10 Weird Times TV Shows Had Wrestling Storylines
Honourable mention: Monday Night RAW.
Pro wrestling and the wider entertainment industry share an unbalanced relationship.
The wider entertainment industry is generally unconcerned about pro wrestling, and pro wrestling plunges the bunny of the wider entertainment industry into boiling hot water. WWE's aspirational mainstream legitimacy has resulted in brilliance, granted, but mostly pathetic bullsh*t.
Pathetic bullsh*t in the form of the Guest Host era, most infamously. Jeremy Piven treated the gig with such disdain that he didn't even bother himself to remember the name of WWE's second-biggest pay-per-view. A visibly uncomfortable Al Sharpton, meanwhile, displayed less pro wrestling nous than even Jonathan Coachman. A big gigantic hand once f*cked on Ted DiBiase. Jr., much to Johnny Knoxville's amusement, or at least, that was the intention. He looked less comfortable here than he did when he broke his urethra in a dirt bike stunt gone awry. The Guest Host Era has receded in the hate circuit of brains everywhere. Those memories have dulled. Everything feels worse now, but it was probably as worse then.
"Here are some uninterested celebrities you aren't interested in, either, showing tacit disgust for that sh*t you've invested in your whole life!"
??????
Ratings.
This dynamic has been subverted on (weird) (and one wonderful) occasion...
10. South Park
An irritating missed opportunity. If only Trey Parker had conducted research beyond keying "What is the owner of WWE called?" on Google.
The Vince McMahon of 'WTF' is a basic template of simply "a male person". Imagine the real South Park version of Vince McMahon, fleshed out by Parker at his warped genius best. His strutting arms and legs would fly around the screen and touch all corners like hyper-sonic versions of the scrolling DVD icon. He would present Mr. Slave in front of GLAAD with no irony. He would blow actual chunks of ham from his mouth in a constant, puce rage.
Instead, Parker phoned in a whole load of "Wrestling is gay and you are a moron for enjoying it" bullsh*t, and it was something of a self-own. He was daft not to do any research and draw meaningful satire from an industry that badly needs its power to elevate the social conscience. South Park excels at this.Normally.
But in WTF, there are no grotesquely brilliant sight gags of the elementary school kids injecting themselves with steroids. Kenny McCormick doesn't die from a soma overdose, bringing into focus just how many wrestlers have died so young, but instead via rocket launcher.
The episode wasn't without its moments.
The gay jokes are handled with more winning absurdity than ugliness - "Whoa-oh! The f*ck is this?" - the target of which isn't wrestling, but the hilarious hick bar regulars in a typically great commentary on rural America.
Still, Parker aimed for the easiest target and missed.